The final showdown was no OK Corral

— Editor's note: Tanya Amador-Daigle is reporting for Florida Weekly on the presidential election. She has a unique perspective on the primaries and the process for choosing a candidate, having traveled the country reporting on primaries and caucuses for the Purple States project. To learn more about Purple States go, to www.purplestates.tv.

In the days and hours leading up to the final presidential debate I heard political pundits vocalizing what Sen. John McCain needed to do in order to come out on top. For him to win the election, he had to go after Sen. Barack Obama more intensely to bring him down from his elevated "Savior" status.

Sen. McCain would have to say he was going to go after the bad guys on Wall Street.

I agreed with that. Americans are angry about the bailout, so I think it would have been a good strategy that would have given him a leg up. But I also knew he was never going to do it. Apparently, these so called "experts" haven't been paying attention. Not only is Sen. McCain, like every other politician, including Sen. Obama, a recipient of campaign money from the finance sector, but also, he's just not that guy.

They said he needed to go after Sen. Obama more solidly on his association with Bill Ayers and ACORN.

He weakly attempted to do that at the debate, but it was apparent that there was no toughness behind it. Sen. McCain is clearly uncomfortable attacking his opponent. Yes, I know he's been running all of those negative ads about Sen. Obama, but that's easy to do when you are not the one writing them. Face to face, it's a different story.

Sen. McCain DID say a few things that may have scored some points.

There were a few moments in the debate when I felt that Sen. McCain came across with a little more fervor. If there is one mantra that Sen. Obama has been repeating in his campaign, it is that his rival represents more of the same last eight years. When Sen. Obama brought that up, again, Sen. McCain finally responded with some zeal, saying, "Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against Bush, you should have been in the race four years ago." Bull's-eye!

Another moment that probably made his mama proud was when Sen. McCain said, "Well you know, I admire so much Senator Obama's eloquence. And you really have to pay attention to words. He said, we will LOOK at offshore drilling. Do you get that? LOOK at." Good point. Another small gain for Sen. McCain, perhaps?

Some questions were proof of media bias.

I think we can all agree that most of us are tired of the attack ads on both sides. But it seems like the media is drinking the Kool-aid as well. They like to talk about how Americans are weary of campaign smears, yet the media itself can't stop talking about them. The debates' moderator, Bob Schieffer, brought up the negative ads, making them one of the issues. What a waste of time, Bob! Stick to the important topics, please.

What about the running mate question? Is it just me, or was that line of questioning designed for none other than Gov. Sarah Palin? Schieffer was clearly giving Sen. Obama the opportunity to portray that Sen. Joe Biden would be more ready to take the office of the presidency than Gov. Palin.

The day after the debate, I think I had a "Joe the Plumber Hangover." His 15 minutes of fame have been worn out like an old shoe, along with the term "Maverick." I'm sure some of Sen. McCain's supporters were disappointed that he didn't come out with guns blazing. But I don't think that we will ever see that side of him because it simply doesn't exist.

My observance of Sen. McCain is that he is a man who would rather lose honorably and with dignity, than win if it means lowering himself. And Sen. Obama? Well Sen. Obama doesn't have to do anything. The media does it for him.